Find Trade Colleges

Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Iowa

2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Iowa

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

3 Colleges
$5,311 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,027 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree School for You

Drafting & Design Engineering Technology is the #15 most popular major in Iowa with 103 degrees and certificates awarded in 2021-2022.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for trade school students. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Trade College Search has created its Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. This report analyzed 3 schools in Iowa to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for design engineering tech students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Best Iowa Schools for Affordable Quality for an Associate in Drafting & Design Engineering

Our analysis found Western Iowa Tech Community College to be the best value school for drafting & design engineering technology students who want to pursue a associate degree in Iowa. Located in the city of Sioux City, Western Iowa Tech Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Western Iowa Tech Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,922 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Western Iowa Tech Community College Report

Request Information
#2

Kirkwood Community College

Cedar Rapids, IA

The excellent associate degree programs at Kirkwood Community College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting & design engineering technology schools in Iowa. Kirkwood Community College is a large public school located in the midsize city of Cedar Rapids.

Kirkwood Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,700 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their Associate Degree, design engineering tech graduates from Kirkwood Community College carry an average student debtload of $18,615.

Kirkwood Community College not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools in Iowa list.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Kirkwood Community College

Request Information

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Des Moines Area Community College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Iowa list. DMACC is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Ankeny.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at DMACC are $5,340 a year. On average, design engineering tech graduates from DMACC take out $12,429 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Des Moines Area Community College

Request Information

Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Colleges in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 130
Missouri 137
Minnesota 333
South Dakota 20
Nebraska 152

Drafting & Design Engineering Technology is one of 18 different types of trade school programs to choose from.

Design Engineering Tech Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Drafting & Design Technology 4,028
CAD/CADD Drafting &/or Design Technology 2,179
Architectural Drafting & Architectural CAD/CADD 1,318
Mechanical Drafting & Mechanical Drafting CAD/CADD 1,058
Civil Drafting & Civil Engineering CAD/CADD 104
Other Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies 72
Electrical/Electronics Drafting & Electrical/Electronics CAD/CADD 47

Related Major Annual Graduates
Industrial Production Technology 11,288
Electromechanical Engineering Technology 10,780
Environmental Control Technology 9,376
Electronics Engineering Technology 8,347
Engineering-Related Fields 6,553

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 3 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Pixabay.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Find Trade Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited trade schools across the U.S.